GHAZIABAD | NOIDA : The partial lifting of the ban on construction activity across the National Capital Region will enable builders to resume work on pending projects. But several developers expressed apprehension that it will take at least 15 days for them to mobilise men and machinery.
The ban had affected at least four major projects of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) and phase 2 and 4 of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. In Noida, five key projects had to be put on hold, which included the Sector 71 underpass that has been a major traffic bottleneck for residents.
“Due to the construction ban, GDA’s work on important projects like Bunkar Mart, Hidon bridge, PM Awas Yojana, Madhuban-Bapudham and the Northern Peripheral Road had been held up. We will restart work on these projects from Tuesday,” said Kanchan Verma, the GDA vice-chairperson. “NHAI will also resume work on the UP Gate-Dasna and Dasna-Meerut stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway,” she added.
The partial lifting of the ban means construction can be carried out in the morning, but curbs will remain in place between 6pm and 6am. “We will try to make up for the days we have lost. But that would not be sufficient,” said an NHAI official.
However, starting work after a gap of several weeks would be easier said than done. According to an NHAI official, it will take anything between 15 days and a month for builders to mobilise workers. “We can start work in bits and pieces. But full-fledged work can resume only after at least two weeks,” the official said.
Officials in the Noida Authority are, however, confident that the projects would exceed deadline. “Work has already been delayed by a month. We may resume construction this week, but gaining momentum like before will take time. Also, if the pollution levels become severe again, work may be put on hold,” said KK Aggarwal, GM at the Authority.
Although five multilevel parking lots are planned for Noida, only one is operational so far. Two others in Sector 16 and Botanical Garden were expected to be inaugurated by the end of this year, but will miss the deadline because of the ban. Another project hit by the curbs is a building of the district hospital in Sector 39, which was expected to be operational early this year.
source:indiatimes
